| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of hidden costs of education
on students’ participation in public secondary schools in Kikuyu Sub County. The
background of the study touches on efforts made to curb low participation and the
progress made in other parts of the world. It touches on efforts made to improve
participation and the challenges faced, which forms the basis of the study to find out
the influence of hidden costs in education on students’ participation in public
secondary schools in Kikuyu Sub County. In the statement of the problem the
students’ enrolment data obtained from Kikuyu District Education office between
years2007-2014 shows that5.7% of the students who enrolled in form one did not
graduate in form four despite the fact that there is Free Day Secondary Education.
This calls for a need to carry out a research on the causes. The study was guided by
the following specific objectives: To determine the influence of lunch charges, to
establish the influence of parents teachers association levies, to establish the influence
of policy of school uniform and to determine the influence of opportunity costs on
students’ participation in public secondary schools in Kikuyu Sub County. The study
will be significant to educational planners, administrators, parents and the community
in general in devising measures that could ensure completion of the school cycle. The
findings may be used as a basis of further research. Under the limitation of the study
the researcher explained the importance of the study and guaranteed confidentiality of
the respondents. Under the delimitation of the study; it was confined in the public
secondary school and focussed on hidden costs of education. Literature review looked
on how these variables have influenced transition in other parts of the world. The
theoretical framework was based on education production function theory. The study
employed descriptive design. The target population was the 28 principal, 434 teachers
and 13949 students in all public secondary schools in Kikuyu Sub County. The
sample size of this study was 28 principals, 196 teachers and 370 students. The
sample in total consisted of 594 respondents. To select schools stratified sampling
design was used and students and teachers from the selected school were selected
using simple random sampling design. All the principals from the 28 schools were
involved because their number was too small for sampling. The study utilized
questionnaires and interview schedule. The reliability of the instruments was done by
performing Pearson’s product correlation. To enhance the validity, the instruments
were approved by the supervisors in the department of educational administration and
planning. The data was collected by the researcher. The data was analysed using
descriptive statistics using the Statistical Packages for Social Scientists (SPSS)
software. The data was presented using frequency tables, graphs and pie charts. The
study found that the cost of school meals affect students’ participation in education in
Kikuyu, lowering the participation of students in secondary schools.PTA levies were
found to contribute to students dropping out of school. It was also found that school
uniform contributes to students dropping out of school. The findings indicate that
opportunity cost also influence the students’ participation in education. The study
concluded that hidden cost have influence on students participation in education in
public secondary school in Kikuyu Sub County | en_US |
